Automatic automobile parking device



Oct. 19 1926.

L. D. COOK AUTOMATIC AUTOMOBILE PARKING DEVICE Filed Jan. 8,1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 QHAHI H I Illll Get. 19 1926. 1,603,321

L. D. (300K I AUTOMATIC AUTOMOBILE PARKING DEVICE Fil e'd Jan. a, 1926 s Sheets-Sheet 2 L. D. cooK' AUTOMATIC AUTOMOBILE PARKING DEVICE Oct.

Filed Jan. 8; 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Get. 19,:1926. l

UNETE" sm e L. n. coon,v or MINNEAPOLIS, lvrrnnnsorrn,

AUTOMATIC AUTOMOBILE PARKING YDIEZVIGEL Application filed January up a rrniniinum. amount of space, and in,cer-' tain garages, doll ies are required to move cars into theirv parking spaces.

, By the use of my invent-'on' automobiles may be parked and moved into and out of their stalls 'or parking spaces by a continuous traveling and turning movement, with:v

out danger of striking; another automobile views.

or post, and niay also be parked close to another car, A I

'In the accoinpana-ying drawings, which illustrate the invention, like characters indicate like parts throu'ghout the several Referring" to the: drawings; T Fig; 1 is a fragmentary vl'ew'ofa gar-age in horizontal section having the invention installed in several of the stalls therein, and

further'illustrates in plan two auto-mobiles, one of which is parked and the other of which is being parked into its stall by the use of the invention; v v

Fig.2 is a plan View, on an enlarged scale, of one of the trucks in normal position with its pocket shown in different positions by means of broken lines; I

Fig. 8 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal 1 central section taken on the line 3'3. of Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale; i r Fig. 45 isa detail view principally in section taken on theirregular line 4.-4l of Fig. i 3; I Fig. 5 is a transversevertical section taken 'on the'line 5-5 of Fig. 3.;

Fig. 6- is a fragmentary. detail view in section taken on the line 6 -6 of Fig, 3;

Fig.7 is a detail View in section taken on the line 7''? of Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale;

Fig; 8 is a detail View in section taken on the line 88 of Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale;

and indicating a portion of a t-ireequipped wheel-by means Of-lQL'OlKGIllines; and.

8, 1926-. Serial N05 80,1114;

Fig. 9-;is a side elevation of one of the wheel guards. E I i I r The numeral 10 indicates a garage having -a row of laterally spaced'posts 111 between which are stalls or parking spaces 12 for an:-

meral with the exception of their rear wheels 14' and 15'. Running front of the stalls 8 is an aisle 16- between twotopposite door openings in said garage-,- not shown;

tomobiles, indicated as an entirety the nu- The parts thus far described have been illustrated'simpl-y for the pur'poseof showing the invention installed in a garage. i

Referring now in detail to the invention there is secured to the floor oil? the garageilt) in each stall or parking space 12 a pair of laterally spaced track rails 17* that extend jlongitudin-ally thereof and represent the left hand wheel track of anau'totlnobi'le '12. As shown, each track rail 17 is 110i low and substantially square in cross section 1 and has outwardly. extended side flanges at the top thereof. The bottoms of the track rails 17 are convex in cross section and in the tops'o-f said ra l-s are. longitudinal slots 18' that are directly over-the crowns of said bottoms. Said trackrails 17j-are set into the floorofthe garage lfil so" that their tops are flush-tl1erewith. It is important to note that the track rails 17 withineach stall 12 are straight i and their forward end p ortions are extended outward of the stalls into 7 the aisle 16- and are curved laterally.

Mounted to travel over each pair of track rails 17 :is-

low truck} 19 having four caster. wheels 20 within said rails and arare swivelled' to the platform "24 of the truck19; i i I Onthetruck platforr-n 24 is-"a raised turntable 25 on'which' is: mounted a truck body '26swivelled thereto for horizontal movement by a'king bolt'2'7 that extends upward through the platform '24: is secured to said body for turning movement therewith. This truck body 26 is-pro-vi'ded with an e-l'ongated pocket; 28'for the wheel 14, "the bottom ofwhich is .transverselyicurved. in cross se'c- 75 either going-in or out of the respective stall fbody 26 by a hinge pin 36.

tion and the sides of which are parallel to receive and closely engage the tread and sides of the tire of said wheel.

On end of the pocket 28 is closed by a pair of horizontal swinging gates 29 and the other end thereof is closed by a vertically swinging gate 30. The gates 29 are secured to the sides of the pocket 28 by spring hinges 31 for inward swinging movement and are yieldingly held closed against a stop rib 32 on the body 26 which prevents outward swinging movement of said gates. Each gate 29 is provided with a stop extension 33 attached thereto for inward swinging movement in a vertical plane by a spring hinge 34. A depending stop flange 35 on the hinged, lower edge of each gate extension 33 overlaps the outer face thereof and holds said gate extension in an upright position and against outward swinging movement. The gate 30 has its lower horizontal edge attached to the respective end of the truck This hinge pin 36 is loosely mounted on the truck body 26 and rigidly secured to the gate 30 for movement therewith, and has on its lefthand end a crank arm 37 arranged to engage a cam lug 38, on the left-hand track rail 17 near the curved front end thereof, during the travelling movement of the truck 19 into the stall 12 to automatically close the gate 30.

To hold the gate 30 closed there is pro-- the path of movement of said gate during its movement to a closed position and to be cammed thereby into an inoperative position to allow said gate to pass the latch 39. and when released, to project in front of said gate and hold the same closed. To automatically retract the latch 39 and allow the gate 30 to swing open under the action of gravity when the truck 19 is in its outer most position and during the turning move ment of the truck body 26 on said truck, there is inserted between the bushing 40 and a cam surface 41 on the outer end of the latch 39 a cam finger 42 normally held retracted by a coiled spring 43. This canrfinger 42 is rigidly secured tothe outer end of an arm 44 slidably mounted in a bearing 45 on the left-hand side of the pocket 28. This. arm

44 is connected by a bell crank 46 to the upper end of a vertical plunger 47 mounted in a bearing 48 on the left side of the pocket 28, and its lower end rests on the platform 24. Secured to the platform 24 are cams 49 arranged to be engaged by the plunger 47 during the swinging movement of the truck body 26 on the truck 19 to raise said plunger andfproject the cam finger 42 and release the I latch 39.

mined position in which the pocket 28 extends at a right angle to the straight portions of the track rails 17 and parallel to the aisle 16 by a fixed stop 50 secured on the platform 24 and a stop 51 on the truck body. 26. A spiral spring 52 is mounted in a recess formed in the opposin g faces of the turn table 25 and truck body 26 and has one of its ends anchored to said turn table and its other end anchored to the king bolt 27 and is under strain to swing the truck body 26 to the left until stopped by the engagement of the stop 51 with the turned too quickly when moving out of its stall 12 there is secured to the floor of the garage 10, at the right-hand side of said stall a longitudinally extended guard 55 made up of a plurality of axially spaced rollers 56 on a shaft journaled in end and intermediate bearings 57 secured to the floor of the garage 10. 1 It will be noted that the end bearings 57 are rounded so that they do not form a sharp obstruction in case the same should be struck by oneof the tires of the automobile. The purpose of providing the guard 55 with rollers is to form an abutment that will not scrape or otherwise damage the sides of a tire. Secured to the end bearings 57 and extending longitudinally over the rollers 56 is a rod 58 that serves as a guard to prevent anyone from stepping on said rollers which might cause a person to stumble or fall.

To assist the truck 19 in swinging the rear end of one of the automobiles 13 into its stall 12 as the same is being parked there is provided a short curved track section 59 for the right-hand rear" wheel 15 of said automobile. This track section 59 extends into the aisle 16 and is concentric with the curved front end portions of the track rails 17. As shown, the track section 59. is in the form of a plate, the longitudinal edge portions of which are rigidly secured to the floor of the garage 10 and the intermediate portion of said track section is convex in cross section. Formed in the crowned portion of the track section 59 are a multiplicity of transversely extended ribs 60 that are oblique to the radial lines of said track section. The purpose of thus shaping the track section 59 and providing the same with the ribs 60 is to cause the wheel 15 to be ti.1ne, 'the gates 29' are open.

' crowded or moved toward the left or in other words, toward the truck 19 when the automobile 13 is being parked into its stall 12. Just rearward of the track section 59 and forming an extension thereoi' is a four wheel truckbl arranged to run in track rails 62 that extend transversely of the track rails 17. Said track rails- 62 are like the track rails 17 and are into the fioo otthe gar-'- age 19. A coiled spring 63' holds the truck 61 centered. It will be noted that the guard is just to the right of the-truckfil; When the stalls 12 are empty the trucks- 19 i are positioned on the curved end portions of the track rails 17 and the bodies of said trucks are yieldingly held by the springs 52 so that their Wheel pockets 28 extend into the aisle 16 and paiall'el thereto.

park one of the automobiles'lg in one or the parl'ring spaces 12*,' wlncl1 is being driven along the aisle 16'froni the rigl'a-t; the

H front left-hand wheel of said automobile will be steered so as to pass on either side of the respective pocket 28 or through said pocket.

In case said wheel is driven through the pocket 28 the gate 29 will be automatically i opened thereby and the open gate 30, tliefree end of which rests-on the floor of the garage 10, ill act as a runway for said wheel. The

' forward movement of the automobile is coni 1 the front wheels of the automobile are turned.

sharply so as to move the front end of. tha automobile to the right and then the automobile is backed into. its stall 12. The initial backing movement of the automobile will cause its wheel 14itoengage the'extensions 33 as an abutment and thereby cause. the truck 19' totravel with saidiwheel. During the turning of the automobile the pocket freely swings with the Wheel 14E on the truck i 19 and thewheel 15. will travel on the track sectionj59 and be crowded toward said truck, as previously described. As the truck. 19

moves from the curved sections of theftrack rails 17 onto the. straight'portions thereof the'crank 37 will engage the 0211:1138 and close the gate 30 so that in case it is necessary to move the car forwardduring the-parkingthereof the truck 19 will, movej w ith the "During the backing movement-of the automobile into its stall 12 the truck 19 moves on the track rails :17 and automatically guides the car into its stallwithout danger During the movement of the automobile At this same I transversely movable truck 61*wh1ch Willbe.

13 out 1 of its stall 12 the'wheel 14 engages the closed gate 30 and causes'tliie truck 19 to travel therewith. Just before the truck 19 is stopped by'the outer ends: of the track over the open ghte S'O- the'spring 52-,autom ati'cally resets the pocket 28.

In turning the automobile to the right when moving out of its stall 12" the truck 19 will of course swing to theleit on the curved portio-nof the track v rails 17', and during this mmiemont the Wheel' 15 will be on the carried by saidwvheel toward'tl-ie tracks 1'2 as the truck 19sw1ngs tothe lei't andpee nil-it the rein-"end oilthe automobile to swing to; the 'lei't until the wheel 14 p'asses from the pocket 28. Assoon asthe wheel 15"is moved from the truck 61 the spring 63 will return thesanie to n-oi'n'lal'position. I j

In case an automobile enters thev garage from the, leftthe same will be backed-so as toycause its rearwlreel to enter the respec tive pocket 28. The remainderof the pa-rk '9 ing of the automobile when thus entering the garagejwillbe the same as that 'ln'eviously described; p

From the" above description it is evident that an automobile may"very quickly and easily be parked into a relatively narrow stall. from a narrow aisle. without, danger of damagingflan automobile striking a post or another automobile, and at the same time position the automobile close-,to another automobile.

v The. purpose of providing the gates with tl'iegateextensions is topermit said extensions to yield if struck by a bumper or other part on a. vehicle when movingover the truck 19'. l

-What I claim is: I c

1. In a device of the kind described, the combination With a track, ofia truck arranged torun on the track and adapted to support one of the Wheels of a vehicle and bejm'oved thereby to guide the vehicle during either a forward or backward travelling movementthereof.

In a device of the kind described, the

combination With a track,.'of a truck arranged to ru-nonthe. track, sa1d truck havinga body provided With; Wheel pocket adapted to receive one of the Wheels of a vehicle When run onto said body to secure said body thereto, whereby the truck will be moved by the vehicle to guide the same.

' 3. The structure defined in claim 2 in which the body is swivelled to the truck to horizontal swinging movement. 7

' 4. The. structure defined in claim 2 in which the body is swivelled to the truck for horizontal swinging movement, said pocket having an open end.

5. The structure defined in claim 2 in which the body is swivelled to the truck for horizontal swinging movement, said pocket having an open end, the sides of the pocket being extended forward of the open end thereof in flaring relation to aiiord guide flanges. V v

6. The structure defined in claim 2 in which the body is swivelled to the truck "for horizontal s vinging movement, said pocket having an open end, and in further combination with a gate for closing the open end of the pocket to lock said wheel therein.

7. The structure defined in claim 2 in which the body is swivelled to the truck for horizontal swinging movement, said pocket having an open end, and in further combi nation with a gate hinged to the truck for closing the open end of the pocket and arranged to be turned down in front of the pocket to afford a runway for said wheel, and means for holding the gate closed.

8. The structure defined in claim 2 in which the body is swivelled to the truck for horizontal swinging movement, said pocket having an open end, and inturther combination with a gate hinged to the truck and closing the open end of the pocket, automatic means for closing the gate during the backward movement of the truck on the track, and a latch for holding the gate closed.

9. The structure defined in claim 2 in which the body is swivelled to the truck for horizontalswinging movement, said pocket having an open end, and in further combination with a gate hinged to the truck at the open end of the pocket and closing the open end of the pocket, automatic means for closing the gate during the backward movement of the truck on the track, a latch for holding the gate closed, and automatic means for operating the latch to release the gate during the forward movement of the truck on the track.

10. The structure defined in claim 2 in which the body is swivelled to the truck for horizontal swinging movement, said pocket having an open end, in further combination with means for stopping the body in a predetermined position in respect to the truck, and a spring for returning the body to normal position.

11. In a device of the kind described, the combination with a track, of a truck ar ranged to run on the track and having a swivelled body with a wheel pocket adapted to receive and support one of the wheels of a vehicle, whereby the truck will be moved on the track by the vehicle to guide said vehicle, and means for automatically moving said body to a predetermined position in re spect to the truck to set the wheel pocket transversely of the track.

12. The structure defined in claim 11 in which the track is laterally curved at said predetermined position of the truck.

13. The structure defined in claim 11 in which the track is laterally'curved at said predetermined position of the truck, and in further combination with a curved track section concentric with the curved portion of said track.

14. The structure defined in claim 11 in which the track is laterally curvedat said predetermined position of the truck, and in further combination with a curved track section concentric with the curved portion of said track, said track section being convex in cross section and having transverse ribs that are oblique tothe radial lines of said track sect-ion.

15. In a'device of the kind described, the combination with a track having a laterally curved portion, of a truck arranged to run on the track and having a swivelled body with a wheel pocket adaptedto receive and support one of the wheels of a vehicle, whereby the truck will be moved on the track by the vehicle to guide said vehicle, and a secondary truck arranged to support a second wheel of the vehicle and be moved there-- by transversely of said track when the first noted truck is travelling on the curved portion of said track.

16. The structure defined in claim 2 in which the body is swivelled to the truck for horizontal swinging movement, said pocket having open ends, and in further combination with a gate for closing the open ends of the wheel pockets for looking a wheel therein.

17 In a device of the kind described, the combination with a plurality of, laterally spaced tracks, of a truck arranged to run on each of said tracks, each truck being adapted to support one of the wheels of a vehicle to be moved thereby to guide the vehicle during either a forward or backward travelling movement thereof, the spacing of said tracks being such as to permitthe opposite wheel of said vehicle from the truck to run on the floor between adjacent tracks. I V

18. The structure defined in claim 1 in which said truck has a swivelled body.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

- 'L. n. coon. 

